Stuttgart boost morale with win

Stuttgart are high on confidence ahead of the biggest match of their season after beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0.

Stuttgart are high on confidence ahead of the biggest match of their season after beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0. The Reds face Freiburg in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday and an own-goal from Alvaro Dominguez gave them the lead before Christian Gentner wrapped up all three points to further boost morale in Swabia. Bruno Labbadia's men also managed to move 12 points clear of the Bundesliga relegation zone with five games remaining. Gladbach, meanwhile, missed the chance to break into the top six, but they remain in the hunt for a European place despite losing today's one-sided encounter. Stuttgart did not give the impression that they were saving their energy for the cup tie as they started brightly, Martin Harnik missing their first chance. They took a deserved lead in the 28th minute when Alexandru Maxim's free-kick was diverted into his own goal by Dominguez. Only five minutes had passed before Gentner made it two. The midfielder took advantage of some indecision in the Gladbach defence to sneak past Tony Jantschke and Marc Andre ter Stegen before lobbing the ball into the net from a tight angle. Another defensive mistake nearly let Vedad Ibisevic in to make it three just after the break, but this time Ter Stegen did well to clear a dangerous backpass. Ibisevic headed just over as Stuttgart continued to attack and search for a decisive third. Harnik then failed to see Maxim, who was well placed in the centre, as another chance went begging. Gladbach, however, were not having one of their better days and failed to seriously test home keeper Sven Ulreich, even after substitutes Mike Hanke and Peniel Mlapa arrived to add further weight to their attack.